Rīga Stradiņš University

The RSU Social Sciences Research Centre is advancing cutting-edge social science research in three strategic and interrelated research directions: health, the environment, and security. We are driven towards effective development and training of its members, and collaboration and partnership with academic and non-academic stakeholders nationally and internationally. We bring together globally recognised researchers from across social sciences disciplines such as political science, social anthropology, media and communication studies, law, sociology, economics, and other fields, including, in a complementary manner, critical humanities.

Challenge 1 Health: How do we create healthy societies of the future?

The main research results within health cut across different understandings of health, including embodied experiences, lifecycles, and legal frameworks.

Challenge 2 Environment: How can we ensure a sustainable and equitable environment for the future?

We draw on rural sociology, political science, education and business management to understand the formulation and implementation of climate and energy policies, societal perceptions of climate and energy issues and food sustainability.

Challenge 3: How can we address local, regional and global security challenges to ensure a safe and prosperous future?

Our research in the security field has impacted across a range of ‘hard’ material security and ‘soft’ human security (including media, communication, culture and democracy) issues affecting Latvia, the Baltics, Europe and beyond.

RSU as a university offers a strong administrative, technical and IT support for research at the centre, including support for RDM, Ethics, legal issues, IT and AI, statistics and other necessities.